Some financial service providers are considered “direct banks.” Direct banks typically offer the same types of financial accounts to consumers as typical banks, but without the same physical presence. For example, a customer may maintain a checking and savings account with a direct bank; however, the customer will have no physical bank location (e.g., branch) to visit in order to conduct transactions. Customers of direct banks therefore must rely primarily on online (or telephone) services to manage their financial accounts.
Customers of direct banks may also rely on merchant services to transact with their direct bank financial service accounts. For example, merchants often offer customers the ability to make point of sale cash withdrawals along with their merchant transaction. In this way, a customer may be able to receive “cash back” after making a debit card purchase at a retail store. The customer receives cash from the merchant and an amount equal to the received cash is added to the amount eventually transferred to the merchant from the customer's financial account to complete the purchase. Because other options for cash withdrawals are limited, merchant “cash back” services are especially convenient to customers that have a financial account with a direct bank.
Cash deposits, however, remain difficult to complete for customers of direct banks using current technology and infrastructure associated with funds transfers. For example, in order to deposit cash into a financial account held with a direct bank, a customer may have to first deposit the cash into another bank and then transfer the funds to the desired financial account. This process can be inconvenient and may take several days to complete. There is therefore a need for technology capable of performing point of sale deposits.